From left: Cliff Deveny, M.D., president and CEO of Summa Health; Bob and Joyce Rice, representing the Wildflower Foundation; Joseph Varley, M.D., chair of the Summa Health Department of Psychiatry and honored holder of the Jim and Vanita Oelschlager Endowed Chair in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health; and Jessica Hudson, president of Summa Foundation and chief development officer at Summa Health.
Conference center dedicated in honor of Dr. Joseph Varley
This story originally appeared in the Fall 2023 edition of Promise magazine.
Recently, the Wildflower Foundation made a leadership gift of $1 million in support of the Summa Health Behavioral Health Institute and created a lasting tribute to longtime physician Dr. Joseph Varley, chair of the Summa Health Department of Psychiatry and honored holder of the Jim and Vanita Oelschlager Endowed Chair in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health.
At the request of the Wildflower Foundation and in grateful recognition of their gift, the conference center in the Juve Behavioral Health Pavilion was named in honor of Dr. Varley and dedicated on May 18, 2023.
“We share Summa Health’s commitment to behavioral health and want to support its investment in the community,” said the Wildflower Foundation in a statement. “At the same time, we wish to honor Dr. Varley’s legacy of longtime service to enhance behavioral health patient care and empower clinical excellence at Summa Health for many years to come.”
As a caring physician and leader at Summa Health for nearly three decades, Dr. Varley has advanced clinical care, research, education and community service to help patients achieve mental wellness. During his tenure, he has advocated for the integration of behavioral health providers into the primary care setting as a way of increasing access to care.
Located on the ground floor, the Dr. Joseph D. Varley Conference Center is at the heart of the Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion and can accommodate large community gatherings, including Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. The versatile space includes retractable walls that can transform one room into three separate rooms.
To support the Summa Health Behavioral Health Institute, contact Nancy McCann at 330.375.7485 or mccannn@summahealth.org.